Starring:
Summary: Dajan takes in a stray werewolf. Matt has questions about Dajan's voodoo. Some Family Awkwardness.
Date It Happened: February 6, 2002
Dajan's New Puppy is Housebroken, Even
Dajan's Place
Matthew didn't stop by last night. He didn't call, either. That would require a phone… or at least quarters. And he didn't stay at the hotel for thirds. Empty streets, moist night air, and the rhythmic pattern of street lamps make good for thinking. But as the sun sets down, And L.A.s Friday Nightlife begins to pick up, a certain pup's footsteps make their way back to Dajan's doorstep.
The outfit should be familiar, Dajan picked it out after all, but Matt's already started to get dirty again, but this time its a different kind of dirty. Soot on his nose, a wet spot on the corner of his shirt, and faint smell of industrial soap and bleach cling to him. His fingers are unusually red, as well. There is a large white paper bag in one of his hands, to boot. He raises his knuckles three times to the door before he manages to actually knock on it. When he does, its soft and quick.
Daj is playing old school videogames. Through the door is audible the sound of Atari Tempest on an old 2600 she got somewhere. It gives the 'game over' noise and she goes to the door. She opens the peephole, sees who it is, and opens the door. "Hey." A pause. "I'm not gonna give you the worried lecture," she tells him, stepping aside so he can come in. "Because you've obviously made it this far on your own, and can take care of yourself." Though there is a touch of relief in her features just the same. He hasn't run yet into anything bigger than him that wanted to eat him.
"I'm sorry." Matt apologizes anyway as he steps through the door with a heavy face and a hard shrug. Walking in, he places the big white paper bag down on her spool turned table. As it is confined in house, its smell begins to fill the room. Delicious smell, to be specific, well, if normal food is a delicious smell that is. "After talking with your friend last night… I wasn't sure if skipping town might have been better for everyone."
"Skipping town?" Dajan repeats. "Do you think running will really solve anything? Do you think scary Mr. Nasty is the only Big Bad Wolf out there who will fuck with a pup like you just because he can, and because you're a newly bitten?" She shakes her head. "Think about it. I doubt that's likely. And even if it weren't, what's to stop Mr. Nasty from following his nose and tracking you out of LA wherever you run?"
Matt just shakes his head. "Mr. Nasty isn't really the reason. I just don't want to be the next Mr. Nasty here. You all have a whole lot on your hands, it looks like, and… I didn't really wanna be more of it." He doesn't meet Dajan eye to eye. "I didn't bolt, though. I spent the night thinkin', no moon, ya know? Only real time I feel normal. Then… I spent the day earnin' this. Place uptown, manager let me clean up his stock room for a dinner."
"Seems to me, if you don't wanna be the next Mr. Nasty," Dajan observes, "It'd probably make sense for you to figure out who and what you are. And how to handle it. Was Oz any help at all?" She returns to the spot on the floor by the game console. Well, six inches above the floor. Which may explain why there's such a sparseness of furniture.
Matt's mouth just goldfishes as he sees her do her floating thing again. It takes him a minute to answer the question as he tries to catch his breath again. "Yeah, I think so. If he really does know of another werewolf in the area, you know… that isn't Mr. Nasty, maybe… maybe they'll know something that can help me." Curiosity just demands he pay attention to it, now. He nods at the floating Dajan and asks: "Is that what your boss is teachin' ya? I mean, are you like an apprentice… uhm… you know?"
Dajan floats there, listening to Matthew talk about possibilities with Oz. And then he changes topics on her with a question.
"Huh?" Dajan looks up at Matt, confused, and then it's visible when her mind clicks into place what he's asking about. "No, no. I've been able to do this since I was eighteen. I'm not an apprentice. I'm an administrative assistant, chief bottle washer, gal Friday, sort of thing for Celestina. Nothing more."
"Oh, I just thought… you know… sorry." Matt apologizes when he messes up her job description. He opens the bag up and begins to take out the platters of food inside, including a couple of paper plates and plastic dinnerware. "So you… self studied the whole Glinda bit? Or did someone else teach you? Either way, it is really cool." Hey, of all the supernatural weirdness he's seen lately, flying girls? Much cooler than baby eaters. "I hope you like what they fixed… they just give me whatever they have extra of at the end of the night, but hey, I don't complain."
"Oh, don't worry about it," Dajan assures him with a careless shake of her head. "It's actually nice to have somebody else I can be myself around. That smells really good, by the way." She grins. "I wouldn't say self-studied as such. My mom had a letter waiting for me to turn eighteen. Telling me what all I'd be able to do if I put my mind to it." She shrugs. "Look, ma. No strings."
Casual dinning is the food that gets placed out. Food a bit better off than your average burger joint, but not so good you have to make reservations. The kind of food you usually find in places with local sports teams and 50's memorabilia slapped on every wall. The selection tonight? Steak or chicken, with some half cold potatoes and spinach dip, "Were you two close?" Matt asks, when the topic goes onto parents, his tone turning a bit sentimental and distant. "I mean, the magic thing, the whole mission to do good and stuff. She sounds like she was a really great person."
"Yes…No," Dajan says, not meeting Matthew's eyes. "We were. Briefly. She … disappeared when I was seven. And I'm not saying she went out for milk and never came home. I mean she literally disappeared. The spoon she was holding fell to the floor. The pot she was cooking burned. The apron she was wearing fluttered to the floor."
The vicarious happy family story time he was hoping for? Yeah, that totally wasn't it! Halfway to scooping out some potatoes into Dajan's plate, his movements slow to a crawl and he is silent until he finishes. "I'm sorry." he answers quietly once he's back on his side of the table again. He doesn't ask anymore questions right now, as he tries to measure Dajan's reaction.
"Me too," Dajan says, sadly. "The tone of the letter I got when I turned 18, though? It kind of implies that she didn't leave of her own accord. Something 'spoooooooooky' happened to her. No idea what. But she said the best chance for me to stay out of bad guys' hands was to be good." By her expression, she's not sure she can completely trust her mother's words, but. "And helping people comes pretty naturally given the other stuff that comes with the levitation."
Matt gives the honest college try to lighten the mood rather deliberately by forcing some cheer through his voice and widening his smile with that good old country charm. Considering Matt should still be in high school, not college, thats quite a bit. "Other stuff? Like, super strength and x-ray vision?" he asks with some energy injected into his voice.
Dajan laughs. "Nothing quite so cool or copyrighted," Dajan assures him, holding up a hand. "I'm a healer. And I'm tough. That's pretty much it. Oh, and I heal myself. So if you bite me? Wolf thing won't take. And I'll heal. And probably be annoyed with you until the muscle knits back together." But she's lighthearted about it; she doubts Matt will willingly bite her, and she's pretty nimble — plus armed with silver — if that's really something she considers a genuine threat.
A harsh transition like this is hard to miss, mention of Matthew taking the role of the bitey monster again hits his chest like a solid stone, and he suddenly finds the table extremely interesting for the time it takes for a nice gory flashback montage to page through his mind. "Dajan-" he begins with all that happy cheer that was there a moment ago sapped out of him, but he shakes his head and takes a breath and forces it all to come back. Its more than obvious he was going to say something else, but instead he goes with: "Healing is a lot better than X-Ray vision, guess that means you don't have to worry about health insurance or co-pays and stuff."
"Actually, I kinda do," Dajan grins wryly, putting a hand on Matt's shoulder companionably. "I got fired from so many jobs because I don't get hurt, but if an accident happens, their premiums go through the roof." She grins. "That's why I'm in LA. I'm looking for stunt work, since that's a job where they want me to throw myself off stuff, and it won't matter if I break anything and get put back together."
"Plus with the flying part, you know, not much danger you will break anything when they do." Matt points out, with a real point even. Something that was just said puts a relaxing state into Matt again, a bit of his hesitation flown away. He laughs. Not chuckles, not grins, and its not fake. He actually laughs. This will be the first time that this emotion has been genuine since he's met Dajan, and the difference between his fake cheer and his honest to goodness happiness is night and day. "I know its silly, but I almost forgot this is where people come to get famous… I just came here 'cause it was the next town on the road."
Dajan raises both brows in pleasant surprise at seeing Matthew's round face show genuine good cheer rather than the attempt to whistle past the graveyard he's been managing. "Yeah, who knew Hollywood's seamy underbelly was a spicy cesspool of seething supernatural activity, huh?"
"Well, I had that part figured out ever since I heard 'bout that whole Scientology thing." Matt counters as he takes a bite out of his (very rare) steak. "I mean, UFOs and alien ghosts? C'mon. Something dark and spooky lives here. But…" He laughs again. Twice in one day, go figure! "You know, it doesn't quite seem so ridiculous anymore." There is a bit of a pause and a decision is made. A real decision. The table is suddenly extremely interested again, and Matt's cheeks turn absolutely CRIMSON as he tries to work up the courage to even ask the question: "Dajan… hey, I know you've done a bunch for me but… and if you tell me to blow I'm gone in an instant and you won't ever hear from me again, promise… but… can I stick around awhile? Like you said, I've been running for awhile and it sure ain't got me anywhere."
"Scientology?" Dajan squeaks, and then almost falls over laughing. "You're not telling me Tom Cruise isn't human! You're just not!" But she digs into her chicken after that, once she's able to compose herself. "Yeah, that's LA for you. I knew about weirdness in the world from Mom's letter, but it dumped on me all at once, too, almost the moment I got outta school." She raises a brow as Matt ducks his head.
"Hey, you okay?" But then he goes on, to work up his nerve and keep talking. "Yeah, sure, you can. It'll be fun to have a roomie. At least you won't keep me up nights with online gaming or gangsta rap music. And if you find a decent job, you can even chip in for groceries if you want." Because he's a guy, and guys like to feel useful. She can handle the rent and groceries on her own, thanks to how well Celestina pays, but part of being a good healer is knowing what hurts and how to make it feel better. That part's just book learning; nothing supernatural about it.
Matthew sniffs, fakes an itch on his nose, and grabs for a napkin real quick for the second or so it takes him to pull his composure back together. He smiles wide again with a few furious nods as his face starts to turn back to its original color. "Totally, and hey, havin' a guard werewolf around is totally better than some silly dog, right? Especially little yappy ones. Like poodles."
Dajan politely overlooks the sniffle, shoving her mouth full of mashed potatoes so she can't say anything until he recovers. Once she chews and swallows, she grins. "Oh, absolutely. 'Hey, no means no, and if I whistle, my brother's gonna come down here, tear your arm off, and beat you with the wet end!'" She grins at the idea of this, though she's really not given much effort into the idea of romance for herself. Living that good life doesn't leave one much time.
"Aaaannd…" Matthew continues with the running gag for at least one more round. "I totally proved that I wouldn't pee on the carpet, and hey, that's overcoming both a dog AND homeless stereotype, so thats twice as special." Waving his hand around the place, he also offers. "Anyway, thanks like two million tons. And just relax, 'cause I'm totally doin' all the chores tonight."
"Yeah, I think if you weren't housebroken, we might've had a little spot of trouble between us," Dajan agrees, teasingly. "Not a whole lot to do, but okay." Cleaning up the paper plates, taking out the trash, and maybe scrubbing the gunk out of the shower stall. The apartment's good sized because of its location, but it's not too much of a sty. At least not this week.
